A Dream Fulfilled Joe Robbie Was Told By Many People That There Was No Way He Would Be Able To Build A Stadium For His Professional Football Team. Joe Robbie Stadium Opens Tonight.

August 16, 1987|By MICHAEL CONNELLY and BOB HILL, Staff Writers

Joe Robbie today considers his opportunity to complete his education along with the inbred drive to compete and win as the two unalterable reasons for his life`s successes. The money saved from the year working at the Conservation camp got him started at Northern State Teachers College in Aberdeen. Tuition was $70 a year. On the momentous day that the first member of the Robbie family to ever go to college left home, he headed down the road with a clothing bag over his shoulder and his thumb out. School was 85 miles away and he was going to learn to be a journalist.

Joe Robbie spent three years at Northern State before switching schools and career interests. After transferring to the University of South Dakota, he set his eyes on a career in law and politics. But that was delayed by war. A day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Robbie joined the U.S. Navy and then spent 45 months in the South Pacific, taking part in five invasions and winning the Bronze Star.

After the war he came back to South Dakota and finished law school at USD on the G.I. Bill. He would move on to a high-profile life of law and politics and sports, but he never would forget USD. He eventually would be recognized as one of the school`s most ardent benefactors. (Years before he would build his stadium in South Florida, Robbie would seek design plans and help raise funds, including making the largest contribution himself, for the university`s own football stadium, the Dakota Dome.)

In 1950, South Dakota`s Democratic Party put up a 33-year-old Catholic for governor. The young man was a go-getter who already had served in the Legislature, been minority leader and been elected the party`s state chairman. But no one gave Joe Robbie much of a chance. It was not a Democrat`s state. That is, no one thought he could win except Robbie himself.

``I`ve never thought `I can`t do it` in my life,`` Robbie says now. ``I thought I could win right up until the Korean war started. Then the Democratic Party dwindled when the young people went to war.``

He lost, but he was impressive. He got the most votes a Democrat ever did until that time. It caught the attention of Democratic bigwigs and the high- powered mayor of Minneapolis, Hubert Humphrey. Robbie soon moved his family and law practice to Humphrey`s city and continued in law and politics, working at first for one of Harry Truman`s federal programs, then running unsuccessfully for Congress and later taking part in many of Humphrey`s campaigns, right up until the time he became vice-president of the United States.

It was a chance occurance that brought Robbie and the Dolphins to Miami. He was hired by Philadelphia businessman Victor Potamkin to approach Joe Foss, commissioner of the American Football League, about a team franchise for Philadelphia.

Robbie knew Foss from the University of South Dakota, the state`s politics and from serving in the Navy together in the South Pacific. Foss said a Philadelphia franchise was unlikely, but Miami had a chance. Potamkin lost interest, but not Robbie. He put his well-honed tenacity in gear and proceeded to overcome both financial and political obstacles in seeking the franchise. Twenty-two years ago today, Miami was awarded the franchise.

The franchise cost $7.5 million and was financed with future ticket sales. There were many limited partners in the deal, including entertainer Danny Thomas, and Robbie was named the franchise`s general partner. It meant Robbie was the risk taker. If the team folded, he would take the fall.

And in the early years it was risky business. The team had difficult times both on and off the field. Few games were won, not a lot of the Orange Bowl seats were sold. Limited partners, including Thomas, came and went. Under the pressure of keeping the team solvent, Robbie`s reputation began to grow as that of a tight-fisted owner, a perfectionist with an imperfect team, a harsh man with little time for critics or employees in whom he perceived cracks in their loyalty.

In 1970 the Dolphins evolved from struggling franchise to contender with Robbie`s hiring of Don Shula as coach. That was confirmed a year later when Garo Yepremian kicked a 37-yard field goal to win an AFC playoff game in overtime against the Kansas City Chiefs, the longest pro football game ever. The Dolphins went on to record both financial and field success; strong attendance, three straight appearances in the Super Bowl, one of the best continuing records in the game. Still, it is Yepremian`s kick that is ingrained in Joe Robbie`s mind as the single most memorable moment of the Dolphins.

Until tonight.

Joe Robbie says he first got the idea he would need a new stadium as far back as 1976.

``Our first 10-year lease was up and the city tried to quadruple our rent,`` he says. ``I told them, `If you want to build a new stadium then we might talk about a substantial increase in rent.` ``